A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF SUICIDE IN CONTEMPORARY INDIAN

SOCIETY

Submitted by:

ANMOL GOEL 190401417004

B.A. LLB (HONS.)

Batch 2019-24

Under the Supervision of

Dr. Avanish Bhai Patel

Alliance School of Law

Alliance University, Bangalore
20/04/2022

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 ABSTRACT

In India, suicide is a huge social and health concern. We can see this problem in our society and
nearby our surroundings also we can find the statistics and reports showing an alarming increase
in suicidal fatalities in India, which is greater than the global average trend. There is little
evidence of historical suicide analysis or suicide prediction. Suicide in India is being studied to
see whether it can be used to predict the chances of dying from suicide. Sociological effort to
understanding the foundations of self-destruction has been inconsistent since Durkheim's famous
study on suicide. In this review, we classify basic discoveries in the body of sociological
knowledge about suicide into three historical periods of relevance (pre-Durkheim, Durkheim,
and post-Durkheim). Integration and control, imitation, and the social construction of suicide
rates occupied much of twentieth-century research. The rise of sociological research on suicide
in the twenty-first century is documented in depth. Suicide has a long and weird history as a
subject of sociological study. It has functioned as a foundational subject for the development of
the discipline, as a testing ground for methodological arguments, and as a foundational subject
for the establishment of the discipline at various times since its inception.

Keywords: India, Suicide, Sociological theory, Durkheim, research, social integration, social
influence, social networks,

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

S.NO PAGE NO.

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………..4

OBJECTIVE……………………………………………………………………………5

METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………………..5

PRE-DURKHEIMIAN APPROACHES………………………………………………5

DURKHEIM’S VIEW………………………………………………………………….6

POST- DURKHEIM APPROACHES…………………………………………………8

CAUSES AND FACTOR OF SUICIDE………………………………………………9

MURDER AND SUICIDE……………………………………………………………..11

RELATION OF SUICIDE WITH COVID 19………………………………………..12

NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU DATA ANALYSIS…………………..15

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………19

REFRENCES…………………………………………………………………………...20

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INTRODUCTION:

Suicide is the most personal of crimes, but as the great French sociologist Emile Durkheim
pointed out, its prevalence varies greatly among civilizations and historical times. The
psychological disconnection that leads to self-destruction has profound social roots. Suicide rates
tend to climb in industrialized societies in particular. The erosion of social links as people
migrate away from their families and communities, the faster pace of life, and the increase of
overbearing ambition are all contributing factors. It is a serious mental health condition that can
strike at any point in a person's life. Suicide is a type of premature death in which a person
chooses to end his or her own life. Because the monetary value excludes intangible expenses
such as the development of psychological burden and subsequent mental disorders in the
bereaved, the effects of the suicide rate on society may be more devastating. There are various
risk factors linked with it, such as stress, depression, exam failure, breakup of a relationship,
alcohol use disorder, financial difficulties, chronic pain, and so on. The world has been afflicted
by a corona virus pandemic for about a year. Many people have lost close relatives, occupations,
and income as a result of this process; they have been forced to relocate from their place of
employment to their place of origin, to a residence or shelter; they have become sad; and some
have committed suicide. In this scenario, India is the worst affected by Covid-19, with one of the
world's largest mental health burdens, drawing attention to its annual suicide risk. In this
backdrop, when India strives to restart its economic growth in the post-Covid-19 period, the
patterns and number of suicide cases would be an important public health indicator and defining
factor from the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) perspectives.

Suicidal conduct has emerged as one of the most pressing issues in India, with its prevalence
increasing by the day. As a result of this predicament, policymakers and scholars must
investigate the different socio-psychological and economic causes of suicide at the individual,
community, and societal levels. Several research on various aspects of suicide have been
undertaken in India, including the association between suicide and its economic drivers , the
effect of unemployment on suicide rate, the relationship between suicide rate and human
development index, and so on. Because it is critical to lower the suicide rate, researchers have
proposed various preventive methods to lower the suicide rate in India, for which we must first
understand the complexities of the country's growth rate.

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OBJECTIVE:

Objective of this paper is to know the reasons of suicide and how to overcome it and also to
analyze that how the problem is affecting society and how much are getting affected through it.
Also relating this problem with other societal issues and how problem of suicide is increased in
covid-19.

METHODOLOGY:

This work is based solely on secondary data sources such as NCRB reports, journals, research
papers, news, articles, books, and other hypotheses, among others.

PRE-DURKHEIMIAN APPROACHES:

It's no surprise, from the standpoint of sociology of knowledge, that he drew significantly on
"generic frames of reference" and "particular knowledge and modes of thought" prevalent among
late-nineteenth-century European intellectuals. These theorists were trying to figure out what was
driving the apparent rise in national suicide rates that coincided with the rise of modernity, which
was thought to be removing the shackles of agrarian society and giving individuals more
freedom. The moral statisticians reasoned that such systematic, geographic, and temporal
patterns referred to forces greater than individuals, contrary to popular belief that suicide is a
matter of free-willed individuals acting out of private misery. A credible explanation or theory of
suicide would have to find and scientifically document whatever cause or forces determined and
regulated suicide rates in the modern world, in addition to this underlying premise. This
hypothesis also challenged moral statisticians' views by claiming that spatial and temporal
clustering of suicides may be driven by various types of imitative conduct, which, together with
invention, he claimed, were the primary drivers of all social interaction. Humans frequently
imitate the actions and behaviors of other people in their immediate social environments,
according to this view, which is consistent with current social learning theory. This is especially
true when the actions and behaviors are meaningful and significant, and the people they are
imitating are held in high regard. As a result, suicides in a given time and place can cause a chain
reaction, resulting in the geographical areas of high suicide rates that the moral statisticians had
discovered.

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DURKHEIM’S VIEW

The sociological study of suicide is still founded in Émile Durkheim's empirical research of
suicide, which is still considered the discipline's most important contribution to suicidology.
Durkheim's thesis is based on two main principles, Firstly that the structure of suicide rates is a
positive function of the structure of a group or class of people's social interactions, and Secondly
that the level of integration and (moral) control of social relationships varies. Though
Durkheim's dimensions were never clearly defined, sociologists have generally interpreted
integration as the structural elements of social relationships, such as the number and density of
ties, and regulation as the degree to which a collective's moral order controls and coordinates its
members' attitudes and behaviors. Also connected to integration and regulation, Durkheim
identified two continuum and four varieties of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic
suicides.

Egoistic suicide:

According to Durkheim, when a man becomes socially isolated or feels that he has no place in
the society he destroys himself. This is the suicide of self-centered person who lacks altruistic
feelings and is usually cut off from main stream of the society. When a person does not feel
adequately integrated into society, they commit egoistic suicide. A person who is not properly
integrated into society feels as if they are not a part of the community, but the community also
feels as if the individual is not a part of their way of life.

 Altruistic suicide:

This type of suicide occurs when individuals and the group are too close and intimate. This kind
of suicide results from the over integration of the individual into social proof, for example – Sati
customs. When a person is excessively ingrained in society, he or she commits altruistic suicide.
The temptation to strive for the larger good, according to Durkheim, can be unbearable when an
individual is too integrated. Individuals may commit suicide because they believe it is in the best
interests of their society (i.e., suicide bombers). Another approach to look at Durkheim's concept
of altruistic suicide is to think about those who are supposed to achieve but don't.

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Anomic suicide:

This type of suicide is due to certain breakdown of social equilibrium, such as, suicide after
bankruptcy or after winning a lottery. In other words, anomic suicide takes place in a situation
which has cropped up suddenly. When society's regulation is broken, anomic suicide is more
likely to occur. The disruption might occur during either a boom or a downturn in the economy.
Individuals are left with little guidance as to what norms and values they should adhere to as a
result of the disturbance. People are unsure of which rules and values still apply and which new
ones must be obeyed. Due to a lack of regulation, some people are feeling overwhelmed by
societal changes, which could lead to an increase in suicide.

Fatalistic suicide:

This type of suicide is due to overregulation in society. Under the overregulation of a society,
when a servant or slave commits suicide, when a barren woman commits suicide, it is the
example of fatalistic suicide. When society's regulation is overbearing, fatalistic suicide happens.
Because of his terrible situation, a slave may commit suicide. Suicide is more likely among
people who believe they have no control over their lives. Because Durkheim did not discuss
fatalistic suicide in depth, it will not be examined in this study.

Durkheim notably concluded from his empirical research that "suicide rates fluctuate inversely
with the degree of integration of the social groupings to which the individual belongs,"
describing the nature and influence of social integration in family, religion, and politics. This
finding, however, is frequently considered in isolation from his other significant conclusion: that
groups that bind members together too tightly in loyalty or affection lead to group suicide rates.
s. Individuals who are too integrated into social structures (for example, martyrs or war heroes)
are also at risk of suicide because these groups (and the individuals who make up these groups)
prioritize the group's needs over the individual's desire to survive.

POST- DURKHEIM APPROACHES:

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Sociologists have preserved social integration as a touchstone issue throughout the post-
Durkheim era, albeit it has been referred to by several names, including social isolation, social
cohesion, and social support. During the 1920s and 1950s, ecological modeling of urban suicide,
refracted through the lens of Chicago School urban sociology, became a sociological mainstay
for an overview.

In the decades after community-based ecological studies fell out of favor in the late 1950s, three
significant sociological statements on suicide arose. First, they proposed their aggression
frustration model, based on psychoanalytic theory, hypothesizing that suicide and homicide are
two sides of a single phenomena of violent aggression that can only be comprehended by
considering sociological and psychological elements. Increases in frustration, they claim, lead to
increases in aggression. As a result, as hostility rises, lethal violence rises as well. Homicide
occurs when violence is directed outward against others; suicide occurs when violence is
directed within against oneself. They claimed that whether people see others or themselves as the
source of their irritation differs according to class and rank. Suicide rates are lower for low-status
groups and higher for high-status groups who blame themselves. Despite the fact that
sociologists and criminologists adopted the hypothesis, later research on status and suicide
yielded mixed results. They reasoned that suicide rates increased in social situations when
individuals encountered a high level of irresolvable role conflict. They uncovered a lot of
evidence to back up their argument. Despite its potential, however, this approach was not
extensively embraced, either inside or outside of the discipline.

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CAUSES AND FACTOR OF SUICIDE:

There are different cause and factor of suicide which affects people in society. There are many
factors that affects such as economical, Social, Political, Psychological etc, some causes are
based on the person’s situation and circumstances. The main reason is in today day to day life
people are not giving time to themselves which makes their schedule hectic through which they
are not able to cop up with the situation. Suicidal thoughts might be triggered by a variety of
factors. Suicidal thoughts are frequently the outcome of a feeling of helplessness when
confronted with an overwhelming life scenario. If you don't believe in the future, you can
incorrectly believe that suicide is a viable option. You may have tunnel vision, believing that the
only way out is to commit suicide in the midst of a crisis. Suicide may also have a hereditary
component. People with a family history of suicide are more likely to commit suicide or have
suicidal thoughts or actions.

Risk Factors

Although women are more likely than males to attempt suicide, men are more likely to
accomplish suicide because they often employ more lethal methods, such as a handgun.

Factors of risk

 Attempted suicide before

 Feel hopeless, worthless, agitated, socially isolated or lonely

 Experience a stressful life event, such as the loss of a loved one, military service, a
breakup, or financial or legal problems

 Have a substance abuse problem — alcohol and drug abuse can worsen thoughts of
suicide and make you feel reckless or impulsive enough to act on your thoughts

 Have suicidal thoughts and have access to firearms in your home

 Have an underlying psychiatric disorder, such as major depression, post-traumatic stress

disorder or bipolar disorder.

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  Have a family history of mental disorders, substance abuse, suicide, or violence, including
physical or sexual abuse

 Have a medical condition that can be linked to depression and suicidal thinking, such as
chronic disease, chronic pain or terminal illness

 Are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender with an unsupportive family or in a hostile

environment

Children and Teenagers:

Suicide in adolescents and teenagers can occur as a result of stressful situations in their lives.
Problems at school or the loss of a friendship, which a young person perceives as significant and
insurmountable, may appear minor to an adult. A child or teen may feel suicidal in some
scenarios due to life problems that he or she may not want to discuss, such as:

 Having a psychiatric disorder, including depression

 Loss or conflict with close friends or family members

 History of physical or sexual abuse

 Problems with alcohol or drugs

 Physical or medical issues, for example, becoming pregnant or having a sexually

transmitted infection

 Being the victim of bullying

 Being uncertain of sexual orientation

 Reading or hearing an account of suicide or knowing a peer who died by suicide

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MURDER AND SUICIDE

Suicidal people are occasionally at risk of harming others before killing themselves. Some risk
factors for homicide-suicide, often known as murder-suicide, include:

 History of conflict with a spouse or romantic partner

 Current family legal or financial problems

 History of mental health problems, particularly depression

 Alcohol or drug abuse

 Having access to a firearm

Difference between murder and suicide

Suicide differs from homicide in that a person commits suicide by killing himself. Homicide is
when someone kills another individual. In terms of making these activities illegal, the law treats
them all the same. To do this, the law establishes a variety of homicide classes, because the
circumstances surrounding a killing may need varying degrees of punishment, or no penalty at
all. While you can't actually penalize someone who commits suicide, suicide is nonetheless
illegal under common law and has its own set of effects.

Suicide has traditionally been punished by mutilation of the body. This was accomplished by
burning the body and occasionally dragging it through the streets. A person who committed
suicide was also either denied burial or required burial in an isolated location in an unmarked
cemetery, according to the legislation. In England, a person who commits suicide forfeits all of
his property to the king, preventing inheritance. Despite the fact that suicide and homicide are
both illegal, the major goal of making suicide illegal is to require professional care, such as
psychological treatment, for people who attempt suicide but survive. Suicide and homicide are
both aggressive acts in general. In homicide, on the other hand, one person acts to take the life of
another. As a result, when the circumstances warrant it, the law will penalize a person who
commits homicide. A majority of countries, for example, would not prosecute someone who kills
another person in self-defense or to defend someone else's life. In contrast, if a robber kills a
bank teller while attempting to rob a bank, the law will charge the robber with homicide.

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Because the circumstances surrounding the killing of another person differ, the common law
formed murder classifications. They are justified, excused, and illegal. Justifiable homicide
indicates that the law allows a person to kill in the circumstances; excusable homicide means that
the act of killing has a legal justification, and criminal homicide means that the killing is illegal.
Another contrast between suicide and homicide is the homicide classification system. For
homicide, the law wants proper punishment and deterrent; for suicide, the law seeks medical
treatment rather than punishment. Another link between suicide and homicide has been the
subject of various researches. Murder-suicide is a link in which a person commits murder (a type
of homicide) before committing suicide. According to a 2012 report by The Violence Policy
Center, murder-suicide is most common at home, between close partners, and children are
frequently witnesses or victims. The perpetrator of a murder-suicide is almost often a man,
according to statistics.

RELATION OF SUICIDE WITH COVID 19

As we all know, the corona pandemic started in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and spread
across the globe in less than a month, including India. The World Health Organization
proclaimed COVID-19 a global pandemic in the second week of March 2020. This pandemic has
caused a slew of issues, including social and economic ramifications, as well as psychological
issues including melancholy, concern, fear, aggravation, frustration, guilt, helplessness,
loneliness, and uneasiness. As a result, a number of them have committed suicide, and others are
being forced to commit suicide as a result of the present pandemic in India. Those who have
committed or are committing suicide in India during the current pandemic can be studied and
analyzed using Durkheim's perspective on suicide, which includes anomic, egoistic, and altruistic
suicide. As a result, this study has examined the nature of suicide in Indian society during the
current pandemic from the standpoint of Durkheim.

Nature of Suicide

The concept of anomic suicide can help us comprehend the nature of suicide in this current
pandemic. This pandemic has caused abrupt and unanticipated changes in the country's society
and economy, as well as the breakdown of organic solidarity in the division of labor. A national

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lockdown was ordered across the country due to the corona virus. Except for necessary services,
all markets, industries, government offices, and other minor companies were closed for 70 days
(medical, milk and vegetables, etc.). This lockout has had a detrimental impact because to job
losses or significant salary cuts; most people working in the private sector have lost their
employment and are unable to meet the needs of their families and children, causing stress and
dissatisfaction. This pandemic also had a damaging impact on society's organic cohesion. Every
unit of society, as we all know, plays an important part in the establishment of the division of
labor. Job uncertainty has shattered coworker unity, even among individuals who worked in the
same organization and under the same roof. The pandemic has also caused social disconnection
among people all over the world, and as a result of this social divide among coworkers and
colleagues, they are more stressed and frustrated at work. Stress and frustration generated an
environment conducive to negative thinking. As a result, organic solidarity and weak solidarity
are becoming reasons for suicide. For two months, all business sectors, industries, factories,
restaurants, building sites, and other industries were entirely shut down. Migrant labourers who
operate in the unorganized sector, such as stores, restaurants, vegetable markets, construction
workers, cleaning employees, plumbers, and lumbermen, provide almost 70% of India's national
GDP. Because a big number of individuals have lost their employment and work is in the
unorganized sector, the lockdown has triggered economic issues among the country's citizens.

Based on egoistic suicide, we can explain the causes of suicide in this global pandemic. When a
person is afflicted with the corona virus or is suspected of being infected, family members,
relatives, and neighbors begin to keep a social distance from them. They lose emotional, mental,
and social support from their native members/societies as a result of such infection or suspicion
of being corona positive, which makes them feel alienated and lonely, leading them to attempt
suicide. Furthermore, government personnel frequently place diseased people or suspects in
institutional isolation and quarantine. Those who are sick with the corona virus or fear they are
infected with the corona virus must live alone for 14 days and are not allowed to see their loved
ones. Some of them feel abandoned by their family members, leading to melancholy and
increased suicidal tendencies. Isolation and quarantine, as well as family troubles, are two
primary causes for committing suicide within the egoistic suicide category, according to the
study. . According to the study, a significant number of persons have committed suicide while in

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isolation or quarantine. During the first 14 days of lockdown, everyone who travelled from one
location to another was subjected to mandatory institutional quarantine, regardless of whether
they were infected with COVID-19 or not. Any person who disobeys quarantine is subjected to
ridicule and rejection from society and family members. As a result of the insult and rejection,
they felt obliged to attempt suicide.

Whatever cases of suicide are being reported as part of the present pandemic, we can link them
to acute altruistic suicide. According to the current study, 32.79 percent of COVID-19-related
suicides have an acute altruistic aspect. Many people have committed suicide to spare the lives of
their loved ones because they are afraid of contracting the corona virus. Infected people believe
that if they come into contact with their loved ones, they will get infected as well. The dread of
contracting an infection among family members causes anxiety and melancholy. As a result, they
consider sacrificing their lives for their loved ones and commit suicide. During this pandemic,
people have committed suicide owing to fear of corona infection and corona positive, which can
be elaborated under acute altruistic suicide, according to the study.

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 NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU DATA ANALYSIS

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 CONCLUSION

The Durkheimian theory's tenacity is absolutely remarkable. Carefully structured, problem-

oriented sociological research can provide change techniques that can contribute to the sense of
collective effectiveness that community require to address their most serious social issues, one of
which is often suicide. According to sociological research, study on suicide has two distinct and
frequently conflicting goals: a visible concern with the development and testing of sociological
theory, and a more latent interest with the amelioration of societal problems. Adopting a
multidisciplinary approach as well as an open-source style of information and idea sharing will
increase the visibility of sociological contributions and make them more accessible to other
suicide researchers, regardless of discipline. Taking a public sociology approach to suicide,
recognizing it as a significant social problem in and of itself, tries to intervene strategically in
public discourse and policy discussions are surrounding suicide. And also in the Covid 19 this
pandemic Due to the quick economic and social fallout, as well as the dread of corona infection,
is a perfect breeding ground for suicide, resulting in a variety of mental health issues such as
chronic stress, anxiety, despair, and alcoholism. During the current pandemic in India, a national-
level initiative for suicide prevention is urgently needed.

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 REFRENCES

'Learn About Emile Durkheim's Classic Study Of Suicide In Sociology' (ThoughtCo, 2022)
<https://www.thoughtco.com/study-of-suicide-by-emile-durkheim-3026758>

<https://www.jstor.org/stable/40111304>

(Ncrb.gov.in, 2022) <https://ncrb.gov.in/sites/default/files/adsi2020_Chapter-2-Suicides.pdf>

'Accidental Deaths And Suicides In India | National Crime Records Bureau' (Ncrb.gov.in, 2022)
<https://ncrb.gov.in/en/accidental-deaths-suicides-in-india> accessed

'What Are The Types Of Suicide Given By Durkheim? | Introduction To Sociology'

(Courses.lumenlearning.com, 2022) <https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-bmcc-
sociology/chapter/what-are-the-types-of-suicide-given-by-durkheim/>

<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228173911_The_Sociology_of_Suicide>

Mueller A and others, 'The Social Roots Of Suicide: Theorizing How The External Social World
Matters To Suicide And Suicide Prevention' (2022)

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